SAN MARCOS, Calif. – The Cal State San Marcos women's basketball team (0-5) will conclude its exhibition schedule on Tuesday, Nov. 26 when the Cougars host NCAA Division I UC Riverside in The Sports Center at 5:30 p.m. CSUSM will wrap up the week by opening CCAA play at Sonoma State (2-4) on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. 
 
LAST WEEK

• In their lone competition last week, the Cougars dropped a 53-64 decision to Saint Martin's on Thursday in The Sports Center. 
• Against the Saints, Rory Hetrick led the Cougars with 18 points while Destiny Okonkwo pulled down a team-best nine rebounds. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Cougars are boasting a 76.7 (56-of-73) free-throw percentage, ranking third in the conference and 45th in the nation. 
• CSUSM is tallying 3.0 blocks per game, ranking fifth in the conference. 
• The Cougars are averaging the second-fewest fouls per game at 16.0. 
• Destiny Okonkwo ranks third in the CCAA with seven blocked shots.
• Rose Morse is shooting 87.5% (14-of-16) at the free throw line, ranking fifth in the conference. 

FINAL EXHIBITION 

• This will be the first-ever meeting between the Cougars and Highlanders in an exhibition game or regular-season play. 
• This will also be the first time CSUSM will host a NCAA Division I team in The Sports Center. 
• This will be a non-countable game for CSUSM but UCR will be counting the game in its win-loss record. 
• The Highlanders will enter Tuesday's game on a four-game losing skid with losses to Fresno State (63-53), at Boise State ((72-57), at Pepperdine (55-52) and against Idaho (56-42). 
• The Highlanders opened the 2024-25 season with a 73-60 loss at Santa Clara on Nov. 4 before snagging an 84-45 victory over NCAA Division III Whittier on Nov. 8. 
• Junior guard Shelley Duchemin is leading the Highlanders in scoring at 11.5 points per game. 
• Stan State transfer Makayla Rose is leading the Big West with 16 steals and ranks third with 2.67 steals per game. 
• UCR was picked to finish eighth out of 11 teams in the 2024-25 Big West Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. 

CCAA OPENER AT SSU

• CSUSM is 12-5 in the all-time series against SSU. 
• The Cougars completed a season series sweep in 2023-24, defeating the Seasolves 66-63 at home on New Year's Eve before walking away with a 58-46 victory in Rohnert Park on Feb. 29. 
• The Seawolves snapped a four-game losing streak with a 70-63 victory over UC Merced on Saturday in Rohnert Park. 
• SSU opened the season with a 68-52 win at Dominican before falling in four consecutive games, at Fresno State (56-47), vs. Jessup (56-46), at Menlo (65-61) and against Academy of Art (69-50). 
• The Seawolves are averaging a conference-high 22.17 trips to the free throw line but are recording the sixth-best free-throw percentage in the CCAA at 69.2 (92-of-133). 
• SSU is holding opponents to the lowest 3-point field-goal percentage in the CCAA at 26.8%. 
• Jayme Blackard has gone to the free-throw line 30 times in six games, the second-most in the CCAA while pulling down the third-most rebounds at 40. 
• SSU was picked to finish fifth in the 2024-25 CCAA Women's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll. 

2024-25 OUTLOOK

• First-year head coach Jana Pearson takes over the reins of the CSUSM women's basketball program following a three-year stint as an assistant at Westmont. 
• The Cougars return six from last season's roster, including Kaitlyn Beall, Camille Johnson, Maddie Leiva, Rose Morse, Jade Ramirez and Tatum Tamashiro. 
• CSUSM has seven newcomers for 2024-25, including transfers Kate Bobadilla, Rory Hetrick, Lucca Lowenberg, Destiny Okonkwo, Lyric Richardson and Kacie Slover while welcoming true freshman Maria Grobushin. 
• The Cougars' 30-game slate includes two exhibition games, one at San Diego State and one at home against UC Riverside to go along with 12 home games and 16 road games in the regular season.
• CSUSM will host the CCAA Championships for the second time in program history. In 2016, the Cougars welcomed both the men's and women's conference tournaments in The Sports Center despite not being able to compete due to competing in their final year of the NCAA Division II transition. 

THE PEARSON FILE

• Jana Pearson became CSUSM's fourth coach in program history on June 20, 2024. 
• Pearson came to CSUSM from Westmont where she was the Warriors' assistant coach beginning in July 2021. 
• Prior to Westmont, Pearson was the assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado from July 2018 through June 2021. Pearson served as the post player coach that included the 2020-21 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year. 
• In four seasons at Vanguard, Pearson served as acting head coach in 40 games and helped the Lions to a 101-25 record with four NAIA National Tournament appearances that culminated in two Sweet 16s and one Final Four.
• Pearson worked at Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee in her first full-time assistant coaching position from August 2010 to June 2014.
• In her 14 years as an assistant coach, Pearson diligently recruited and coached four national players of the year, 18 All-Americans and over 80 scholar-athletes.
• Pearson earned her bachelor's degree in Mathematics in December of 2007 from Harding University, where she was a member of the Harding women's basketball team for four years. While serving as a graduate assistant, Pearson graduated with a Master of Science degree in Counseling in 2010.